Snowy owl sighting in Ballard

My Ballard reader Cathy sent us this photo of a snowy owl she spotted on a roof on Sunset Hill this weekend. The owls are back in the area after spending most of the year in the Arctic.

According to our news partners, The Seattle Times, it’s food that brings the birds here. Lemmings, the owls’ main food source, are in abundance, which means the owl-population grows so much that the snowies head south in search of snow-free terrain and food, according to Paul Bannick, author of “The Owl and the Woodpecker.”Read more about the snowies’ return here.